


Worth It (Shinsai)

by ySoda (yrxole)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, New Dangan Ronpa V3 Spoilers, Oneshot, Post Killing Game, Post-New Dangan Ronpa V3, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Saihara Shuichi-centric, Serious, danganronpa - Freeform, shinsai, shuichi isn't a creep though, they regain their memories, you'll see I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23822761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yrxole/pseuds/ySoda
Summary: "Basically everyone was talking with each other. Everyone but one person, Shuichi noted. Korekiyo was standing on the opposite side of the room on his own, seemingly more interested in the plain tablecloth that shielded the table from getting dirty, than the people that were surrounding him. It wasn’t like anyone was actually coming towards him, anyway. They were basically avoiding the guy, as far as Saihara could tell.For some reason, he found himself making his way over to where Kiyo was standing."
Relationships: Saihara Shuichi & Shinguji Korekiyo, Saihara Shuichi/Shinguji Korekiyo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 60





	Worth It (Shinsai)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> A/N:
> 
> So, this was basically to try out writing something else than soudam for a change. I hope I succeeded somewhat. The ship was requested. 
> 
> Warning: some swearing and a l o t of spoilers for v3 ahead, although I did change some bits. So if you haven't finished v3 yet, maybe it's best not to read this.
> 
> It's a little ooc, but I suppose that's okay since we can't be sure how much in Danganronpa is different from their actual memories and stuff.

Shuichi Saihara wasn’t exactly sure what he beforehand had thought would happen once he left the place that for a couple of long days he thought he wasn’t ever going to be able to escape. A part of him strongly held onto the belief that they weren’t lied to the whole run, and that once he had left their bubble of ignorance with the remaining students at the school, they were indeed to find out that the outside world as they had known it was gone. It was hard to grasp how many of the memories in his head had been fake ones. That he had agreed to come to this place. Whatever he had expected, after all, it wasn’t the most obvious if he thought about it for more than a second; it was a simulation of some sort. 

_ Ultimate Detective, yeah right _ Shuichi bitterly thought to himself, as he slowly regained his memories. He wasn’t sure why he never came to the conclusion of this all being a simulation before. It would only seem logical if this really was a show that was being broadcasted all over the world for people to watch, that it wouldn’t be actual people killing each other, otherwise the company would definitely get in a lot of trouble. And he would’ve never agreed to go on a show where he would  _ actually _ die. Even if he didn’t know his past self during this simulation, he should have known that he couldn’t have been that different. Also, there was this whole thing about resurrecting the death that Monokuma seemed to believe wholly in. Something like that surely wouldn’t have been possible, unless this whole thing had been a simulation and the people who died in the program weren’t actually dead in real life. Saihara was pretty disappointed how his abilities as a detective had been worse after they supposedly altered him to have the skills, than in real life. They had focussed a lot more on his sob story of a low self image, he supposed; it was going to be a tv show after all. 

Even though he finally had gained his real memory back, it was still a bit strange to wake up to people that work with team Danganronpa to help him out of a strange cabin-looking thing, that he did now recall stepping into before this whole mess started. He had been very excited the day he got picked to be on the show. Now, he wasn’t so sure why he had been that excited. ‘Thank you’, he muttered politely to one of the crew as she handed him a glass of water, and only then did he notice how dry his throat actually felt. He didn’t think he had ever been as grateful for a glass of water before in his life, and with big gulps the liquid was downed. He really wasn’t sure what he pre-simulation had thought was supposed to happen after he got out, but he didn’t think his morals would change quite like they had. It had been a strange experience; horrible, but at the same time kind of amazing if he thought about it.    
  


‘Shuichi Saihara’, a woman with a low ponytail and modern looking glasses called his name, as she walked towards where he was standing. She carried herself in almost a stately way, so he immediately guessed she was one of the higher-ups on the team. Her heels clicked as she walked, and it made Saihara aware of the lack of other sound around him, as if everything was drowned out. ‘That’s me’, he managed to smile a little at her, not getting a smile in return. It didn’t come to his mind soon enough that he basically ruined the show with what he did in the last class trial. 

  
He tuned the woman out as she started to almost give a lecture about his behaviour and his contract and such, discreetly letting his eyes roam the room around him, as he hadn’t taken in his surroundings before, and it made him feel a little on edge. Here and there he picked up some of what she was saying; how it would be hard to fix this for the people at home, and how it would definitely be hard to fix their reputation. Season fifty three hadn’t been as much as a success as the other seasons, and as he could gather from the speech this lady was giving him, most of that was his fault. He couldn’t really blame himself though; after all, it was team Danganronpa that decided to make him the “weak detective” drama story. If they had made the detective betray everyone last minute, now that would’ve been a cool twist. Although he wasn’t sure how he would feel about himself if he exited the simulation only to realise he actually killed a person in there, even though it wasn’t really murder when the other person isn’t really dead. 

He wasn’t alone in the room. There were more cabins in there, and he supposed that everyone must have woken up in here. Shuichi’s eyes widen a little as he meets Kaito’s gaze. He averted his gaze. The boy is definitely much different from his memory. He knew the same must have been for himself, but still. It was strange to see a close friend of his for a pretty long period of time turn out to be completely different, the difference being visible even if they hadn’t even spoken each other yet. Friends that were supposed to be dead were clearly alive here, and even though the Shuichi they had created for in the show would’ve probably started to cry seeing this from happiness, all the real Saihara did was offer one of his usual small smiles. It really takes the excitement off of things once you gain back a memory of remembering that this was going to happen. People were greeting each other like nothing had happened, even if some of these teens had technically committed murder, or murdered the person they were talking to. Things were apparently quickly forgotten or forgiven once memory was regained. 

‘That was all for now’, the woman finished off what she was saying, and Shuichi nodded once only to be polite, as he hadn’t really listened to a single thing she had complained to him about. She went off, possibly to check up on the other contestants of the show, but Shuichi wasn’t sure, neither did he care too much. He was kind of amazed still, by the differences. For example, seeing Kokichi apologize excessively to Gonta and watching the dude trying to calm him down in return, as the purple haired kid bowed deeply to him, it was strange. Even if their personalities may have been completely fake from what he actually knew, he still wouldn’t expect to see Ouma, the kid he knew not only as ultimate supreme leader (of evil) but also a pretty good liar and manipulator, being… actually decent. Maki was standing in that group of people as well, and she didn’t seem like she was even thinking about murdering the boy at the moment, which was also a strange thing. 

‘Don’t worry’, the detective heard a voice next to him suddenly, making him turn his head almost as a reflex. It was Tsumugi. He guessed she also had to have been in the simulation, although she must have known what was going on in there, seeing as she was the mastermind behind it all. ‘It’s very usual for the contestants of the show to just be plain friendly towards each other after. It is strange to see now, but once these teens have regained their memory, it is only a matter of time before they stop caring about the events that happened in the simulation, since it was only a tv show after all’, the blue haired girl explained further, as Shuichi listened to her in silence. He hadn’t actually been worried, so he wasn’t sure why the girl had thought this of him, but he supposed it couldn’t be helped; even outside of the killing game his face usually looks quite troubled. 

Team Danganronpa had them run for some tests in the building in a separate room, mostly to test their mental state after all this. Saihara guessed the company just didn’t want to be responsible for any real-life killing to happen afterwards, or they just didn’t want any charges against them if one of the contestants would actually suffer in real life from this. A man that was wearing a painfully bright white suit was asking Shuichi questions about his sanity, or at least that were surrounding his sanity. How he was feeling, if he remembered everything, if he could still recall his contract, things like that. He needed to sign some things as well, how the company wouldn’t get sued or whatever were he to decide he would want to kill one of the others once he got out of this building, and it didn’t really come as a shock to Shuichi. After being in an actual killing game, he knew things like that weren’t unlikely to be possible. 

After the questions about his mental stability that Saihara answered in all honesty as it was probably to his own benefit as well to get checked out correctly, the same guy made him do some things to test his physique. The detective guessed it must have been because being in a cabin for the amount of time he had couldn’t exactly be great for one’s body. But he was able to walk normally, breathe normally, and he didn’t feel  _ that much _ more tired than usual either. So soon enough, everything was deemed okay and he could leave the strange looking guy to show the results to his coworkers, probably. The last test, as was explained to Saihara, was basically to test their behaviour around each other. Team Danganronpa apparently weren’t the big bad guys after all, since they did care a little bit about what happened to their contestants afterwards, so they wanted to make sure they wouldn’t see any sign of actual hatred amongst the kids. So, they had prepared a room for them with actual food this time instead of in the simulation, and they were to converse for a period of time. Shuichi hoped it wouldn’t feel as painfully forced as it sounded. 

The building they were in really was grand, just like he faintly remembered it to be when he entered before, all excited for the fact he could be on his favorite show. Man, had he had no idea of how much he would’ve really screwed it up. Lead by some other woman he couldn’t recall having any memory of, he was basically ushered to the room that seemed like some sort of big dining hall, although there weren’t really any chairs for them to sit on. It faintly remembered him of the types of parties his aunt would throw when she was yet a year older; family members gathered in her backyard, some table with food that was considered somewhat festive placed on it, as everyone was standing in small groups and talking. Usually as he would pass these groups, he would listen in on their conversations and study their behaviour. It had always been a hobby of his to find out who was talking or gossiping about who during these parties. So, for old time’s sake, and because no one was really trying to chat with him, he decided to do the same thing now: study them. It was after all what he was best in. It was pretty sad that he felt like a better detective in real life than he did on the show. 

Most of the groups that were formed between his “classmates” that of course weren’t his actual classmates now had a bit of an awkward feel to it, which wasn’t illogical seeing their situation. It was like getting to know everyone again, but now in a completely different way. Groups were changing, and basically everyone was talking with each other. Everyone but one person, Shuichi noted. Korekiyo was standing on the opposite side of the room on his own, seemingly more interested in the plain tablecloth that shielded the table from getting dirty, than the people that were surrounding him. It wasn’t like anyone was actually coming towards him, anyway. They were basically avoiding the guy, as far as Saihara could tell. 

Shuichi noted how he didn’t act or look quite the same as the Korekiyo Shinguji he was used to, but that was no surprise. That he came to the conclusion the real Shinguji was probably far different than his created persona by Team Danganronpa seemed to be unusual, as no one else even attempted to hide their uncomfortableness whenever they stood too close to the poor dude. Even Ouma didn’t get as much shit for what he had done; he had eventually explained what the program-him had really been thinking by everything he’d done, and his motives and reasoning was pretty clear anyway for everyone that had gained back their memory and with that seemed to have a bit more brain cells than they showed during the show. But still, in there, Korekiyo didn’t have any excuse to how he acted. He had killed not just one, but two girls, for the sole reason of pleasing his sister because of some strange complex he apparently gotten after being culturally abused during one of his travels. Even as Shuichi thought about it right now, it sounded like a crappy story you would see in some dramatic tv show, which was exactly what happened. But still, he also supposed no one could exactly know what part of this story was real, and what was fake. For all they knew, he could’ve actually killed someone in the real world. Shuichi doubted it. If he himself had thought his parents were dead in there, and he had been utterly convinced of this fact just like of the bullshit story about ultimate hunts and things like that, he was sure the technology was advanced enough to convince the anthropologist of strange feelings for a family member and a past of murder and trauma. 

For some reason, he found himself making his way over to where Kiyo was standing. Perhaps it was pity, perhaps it was his curiosity. Either way, he was now standing near the other, and waiting for him to acknowledge his presence. 

Shuichi, during the killing game, had been seriously freaked out by the guy, although the detective part of him even in there had also been somewhat interested in the other. He had this strange aura to him, and while most people around him there wrote it off to Shinguji just being a creep, Saihara had actually tried to proof himself and the others otherwise by getting to know the anthropologist a little. Sadly enough, it had been to no avail. Even though he’d gotten a lot wiser from his conversations with the ultimate, he couldn’t shake the off feeling he had about him. Getting to visit his lab in the simulation hadn’t made it any better either. Again, Shuichi found it to be very interesting, like the guy himself, but creepy nonetheless. Several things in the lab had piqued his interest, although also his fear. It turned out everyone was right about the strange vibes they got from Kiyo, so much was revealed during his execution. But the Korekiyo that was standing in front of him, still inspecting a plain tablecloth like it was an interesting piece of art, was far different from the one inside the simulation. This one looked… friendly. Laid back. Okay. More like, this Kiyo didn’t emit the warning signs that a creep was hiding behind the mask he would always wear.    
  
This version, the real version, of Kiyo raised a brow when Shuichi didn’t seem to move away from where he was standing, and eventually asked ‘am I standing in the way?’, in what only could be described an almost timid fashion. The male took a step back, revealing a plate that had basically been hiding behind him, and the detective realised the other must have thought he only came over to take some of the food. ‘No, no’, Shuichi quickly shook his head, hoping he didn’t seem on edge, since he got that a lot from the people he actually tried to talk to when his life was normal. ‘I actually wanted to talk to you’. Hearing this, the anthropologist (Shuichi really needed to stop calling him that in his head, as he wasn’t sure what the guy actually did in real life) seemed genuinely surprised. Not a bad kind of surprised, though. He was indeed a lot less intimidating like this. 

‘So’, Saihara started, realising now that he probably should have thought of topics to speak about when he decided to start a conversation with Shinguji. The other didn’t seem to mind, as he let Shuichi take his time to come to words. ‘Have you tried to talk to anyone else yet?’, Shuichi decided, since that would possibly bring up topics they could discuss about. he really wanted to deduce different things already from how the guy reacted to that, tensing somewhat that indicated nerves or discomfort from the question, but he decided not to ruin his somewhat improvised investigation about how much different this Kiyo was from the one he used to know. ‘Oh, I’m afraid not. Kehehe… they did not seem too interested in making conversation with me, you see’, the anthropologist answered, and a small smile formed on Shuichi’s lips as he heard the familiar laugh, although this time it sounded more nervous than it had during their killing school life.    
  
No one had really tried to talk to Shuichi either yet, but he supposed that couldn’t be helped. He did ruin the season for everyone after all. So he felt somewhat glad that this guy didn’t look like he was blaming him too much for it, or he was just good at holding back hatred. Whatever it was, selfishly Saihara was somewhat glad that he wasn’t the only loner out there. 

‘Is it alright if I were to ask you some questions as well?’, Korekiyo spoke, pulling Shuichi from his thoughts. The detective nodded, even though this improvised investigation wasn’t supposed to become something he himself had to reveal too much about himself with. ‘Well, I cannot help but to be curious; what is Saihara really like?’, he asked, rather intense eyes piercing Shuichi’s, who involuntarily duck his head down a bit so he didn’t need to answer the gaze. ‘I… well, I wanted to be on the show because I was a big fan of Danganronpa, like everyone else here I think’, he said a little vaguely, hoping the other would be satisfied with only that, since there wasn’t much more personality to Shuichi that he knew of. A big fan was almost putting it lightly; his room back at his uncle’s place was stuffed full of merchandise of the games and series, as well as his room at his dad’s place. At school he got slightly below average grades solemnly for the fact that he couldn’t focus because of the show, as he was always thinking about theories and writing them down as well. He was pretty sure he knew more about the first ten seasons of Danganronpa than he knew about the first ten years of his own life. 

‘That is, unfortunately, where you are wrong’, Shinguji informed him, crossing his arms over his chest in a way the other hadn’t seen him doing before. Shuichi decided to grab some of the food that was behind him as he urged the other to go on, interested in what he wanted to say. ‘I personally have not been that much of a fan at all, once I arrived, and possibly less at the moment after the experience ended’. 

  
The detective of course couldn’t help but to be a little confused by this revelation. ‘Huh? But why would you want to join a show you don’t even like?’. He was pretty sure that, if he hadn’t known Korekiyo before this, he would’ve felt offended that someone would say something like that. ‘Well, I have been studying anthropology quite a while. Being on the show was an experiment, really, to help my studies. No better place to study humanity than in its rawest form while technically still being safe, yes? Sister was the fan out of both of us, but I did not care too much for the show. However, this changed once my sister came to pass away’, Shinguji explained calmly, even though the reminder of his sister and possibly the link to the show had the other a little tense again. And even though it would probably seem a little rude, Shuichi’s detective nature didn’t want to let that subject go to soon; he wanted to know more. ‘Your sister, you say. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to her?’. 

Kiyo seemed a bit uncomfortable, keeping himself up right by leaning a little on the table behind him with his hand. ‘No, I understand your curiosity’, he said, fixing the mask that was in front of his lips, or messing with it a bit as a nervous habit, one of those two was what Shuichi suspected. ‘My sister has indeed always been ill, that part has not been a lie. She was in and out of the hospital a lot. When I came to visit her, I would always see her watching the show. I have asked her before,  _ is it not discouraging to see the ones you root for in a show pass away _ ? Since she herself was close to dying. Yet she would tell me off, saying that she simply enjoyed the show as a whole. Sister found it to be exciting, and I suppose that it was. Although I am greatly horrified by how team Danganronpa has managed to alter my memories in such a way that I would harbour supposed romantic feelings for a sister of mine, that has been the most unpleasant change so far that was made for the entertainment of others, and it makes me wonder how many culprits like myself are hated by the audience for reasons that they themselves have had no control over. I find it greatly horrifying how they have managed put such horrible thoughts in me’.  _ I think it’s kind of awesome _ , Shuichi wanted to argue but didn’t for obvious reasons. He found it fascinating that the show possesed over the technology to make these feelings and memories seem so real. He did feel bad for Shinguji of course, but at the same time he couldn’t help the feeling of amazement at the ways of team Danganronpa. 

‘I do think’, Kiyo continued, ‘that none of the experiences were as bad as having to know my sister to be portrayed as the villain, definitely during my execution. Family has been important for me always, and to think they would taint her image not only by romanticising those admirations but also by making her out to be vile, it hurts my heart’. 

They were getting in the feels territory at the moment, and while Shuichi’s actually objective had been a quick investigation to check if his suspicions were right, he quickly found himself engrossed in a conversation with the anthropologist. Closing and leaving the subject of Danganronpa behind, they actually managed to get to know each other quite well. Saihara found that Korekiyo had some of the same interests as he did, and some interesting stories to tell about himself as well, even if he was an average person. He learned about some of his hobbies besides anthropology, and agreed on a lot of his opinions once they accidentally listened in on the conversation of another group that were standing close by. Korekiyo hadn’t been surprised or disgusted when he realised Saihara was accidentally listening in, which was kind of new. Usually people suspected Shuichi to be some kind of stalker with strange hobbies and interests, and while the hobby and interest part was true, and he couldn’t help being a little nosy at times, he wouldn’t consider himself a stalker or anything near that. Kiyo had the same problem sometimes, and it was honestly hilarious to listen to the conversations he had picked up on that were from people all the way on the other side of the room. His normal personality was a lot easier to conversate with than the show-one, as Shuichi actually got to talk as well. Although he usually held back from sharing information, he opened up pretty much to the other. There was a sense of comfortableness around him that he wouldn’t have ever expected from Korekiyo.

‘I should take you to the small shop that is close to my uncle’s place sometime, then’, Shuichi joked with a calm smile once the topic had changed to coffee somehow and he came to realise that he wasn’t the only one with a strange taste in the dark liquid. ‘Excuse me’, a voice interrupted their chat. Turning to face the source of this sound, he found himself looking at Kaede. The real one, that is. ‘Just popped by to say hello!’, she smiled, in a way that reminded him a lot of the version he’d known of her. Kaede knew very well that mostly everyone around them had not forgiven Kiyo for the things he’d done on the show, and had not forgiven Shuichi either for ruining the show at last, but she didn’t seem to care that much. ‘At least my faith in humanity has been restored a bit’, she giggled softly, taking a plate from a pile next to Shuichi, who apologized quickly and stepped out of the way. She noted how they seemed a little uncomfortable, remembering her application video. Saihara barely dared to ask about it, but he eventually did, curiosity winning it from fear. ‘Oh, that thing?’, Kaede smiled carelessly, ‘it was cropped. Well, at least the part where I said I wanted to be on Danganronpa to change myself was left out. But that doesn’t matter now, since it worked! I feel reborn’, the girl smiled a bit and bowed slightly to them, before leaving to continue talking to Miu. 

Shuichi was glad someone decided to talk to him, although he did feel a little strange knowing this Kaede was probably far different from the girl he was used to. It was one thing for someone he barely knew to be different than he expected, but Kaede had been a really close friend of his in the simulation for as long as that could last. He was left to stand alone and think, as Shinguji politely excused himself to give his apologies to Tenko and Angie. Saihara found himself morally not wanting to know how that turned out, even if his curiosity was begging him to listen in on the interaction. 

The tests were done, and Team Danganronpa allowed them to go home. It was about time actually, as Shuichi’s instincts were telling him it must be late out already, and he was correct; as soon as he felt the nightair hit his skin once he had exited the massive building, a yawn made it to his lips. He was now strangely tired for being basically asleep in a simulation for so long, but it couldn’t be helped. He luckily had also regained the memory of how to get back home, knowing he would probably have to take a bus near. He was actually one of the last people to exit the building, after being held back by some more crew- or staff members (whatever they were to call themselves, Shuichi couldn’t really bother being interested to know). However, as he walked to a bus stop, he was met with the sight of Korekiyo Shinguji once again. He waved at him as he made his way over to the boy, but now out in the open and not in an enclosed space they were basically forced to communicate by Team Danganronpa. 

‘So, how did the apology go?’, Shuichi asked him, coming to a halt and taking a seat next to the anthropologist. There was the nervous laugh again. ‘Kehehe… as expected, really. Neither Angie nor Tenko believed I was sincere with my apologies’, the boy muttered, head in his hands as his arms were resting on his knees, and he was hunched over in a way that Shuichi wouldn’t expect of Korekiyo, but it seemed life was full of surprises still. And the dude was definitely more down because of this knowledge after his apologies that went wrong, than he tried to show. Saihara again started to feel bad for the anthropologist. 

‘Hey, how about we go for that coffee now?’, he offered, even though before he had actually only meant it jokingly, as he had been sure he wouldn’t ever have another encounter with any of the contestants again. He truly wanted to cheer Kiyo up a little, and it wasn’t like he had anything more exciting to do once he got home. Also, his uncle was used to the strange times in the day that Shuichi craved coffee, so it wouldn’t be that much of a problem. Korekiyo, somewhat excited as it seemed although he kept himself calm, agreed, apparently having the same strange coffee-drinking pattern as Shuichi had. 

What Shuichi thought before about never really keeping in touch with any of the other contestants had proven to be correct, and he didn’t mind, really. It would only feel weird to have to speak to someone he had known so well, only for them to be a completely other person. However, after having a coffee with Korekiyo and enjoying a normal conversation with him that for once wasn’t about Shuichi’s obsession with Danganronpa or something that was related to anthropology on Kiyo’s part, but more of a conversation that normal people their age would be having (it was refreshing for the detective, really), they had agreed to meet up again. 

And while no one else really made the effort to do so, Shuichi and Korekiyo formed a pretty good bond after all this mess. It turned out that the experience might have been worth it, after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:   
> So, that was the end of the story. It was honestly pretty fun to try and write something else for a change, and I got to know a bit more about Korekiyo's character by researching him (I still refuse to watch his love suite event after hearing some... particular stories about it) as well. I'm not sure if this ship is popular or not, so I have no idea what to expect.   
> I'd like to write a bit more with requested ships, so if you want to, you can comment a danganronpa ship (from dr2 or drv3) you would like to see. For now I think I'm comfortable with everything except for junko x anyone, tsumugi x anyone or victim x killer. If I'm not comfortable with the ship you request, I will tell you so, but that doesn't mean I'm shaming you for what you like! It just means I myself aren't keen on the pairing or one of the characters involved in the pairing.


End file.
